Equipment > Turntables

Upgrading an Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB turntable

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BSD2000:
Here's a few pictures of the inside of my nephew's AT-LP120-USB turntable. After looking it over, we decided to remove the built-in preamp / USB PC board and route the tonearm cable directly to a pair of RCA jacks out the back.

This mod is only recommended if you already have a phono preamp, and don't plan on using the built-in preamp or USB output. My nephew uses a Cambridge 640P, so the built-in electronics were not needed.

I removed the PC board, cut out the stock black RCA cable and routed the grey tonearm cable to two Neutrik gold plated RCA's ($7 for the set from Mouser Electronics). Both RCA grounds were soldered together with the grounding wire in the grey cable. Next, Holes were drilled through the back of the top cover. You can mount the RCA's through holes on either half of the case, I choose the top half for convenience. Just make sure it doesn't interfere with anything else inside or out (cover) when locating a spot for the RCA connectors.

I used a banana plug from an old speaker binding post as the ground. I just soldered it to a wire leading to the 'grounding star' already there from the factory.

I used WBT silver solder for all of the connections, but that's only because I bought a 1lb. spool of it years ago when silver solder was cheap. Now, the same spool costs an arm and a leg. I do recommend using good solder since the signal level that will be flowing through it is very low, but any decent brand of solder should do.

The end result was dramatic. Everything sounds more open, with better extension in the bass, smoother mid-range, and cleaner highs. From what I seen on the PC board, the tonearm wire goes through a few solder connections, possibly a few resistors, then through a switch before exiting through the hard wired RCA cable. Not the cleanest path for such a low signal to take.

The next mod will be to replace the tonearm wire with a couple feet of bulk Cardas 4x33 gauge tonearm wire. Buying it by the foot, it usually goes for ~ $8 a foot, so it's not to costly. Two foot should be plenty. I'll post a short how-to article when we decide to tackle that upgrade.

Pictures are attached. You must be registered to view them.

lshin80:
Nice upgrade. My first choice when I was going to buy a TT was the Technics SL 1200 Mk 2, and later upgrading it with better tone arm, external power supply, etc. What  I was interested in was the direct drive, which allow an extremely low wow and flutter amount: less than 0.01%, a value that only higher end belt TTs have. Unfortunately, when I decided myself to buy it, I discovered that Panasonic had already dropped all the Technics line :(
I didn't want an used one, and since all the cheaper direct drive clones, like the Audio Technica (which is the best among all) have a typical wow and flutter value of 0.1% - ten times higher! - I decided for a good belt drive, the Pro-Ject RPM 5.1, which doesn't need dramatic upgrades, and has 0.08% wow and flutter value.

nick52284:
it was definitely a great improvement, i'm interested in hearing what it will sound like with the upgraded cable, and i was thinking about going with a denon dl103R, the 160 sounds great but it seems like there is much more musical information to extract from a record as i've heard what a ZYX sounds like and nearly crapped my pants, makes me really wonder what the mega bucks cartridges, turn tables, and audio processing equipment sound like...

the nephew, lol

lshin80:
How does the Cambridge Audio preamp sound like?

The Denon 103r may not be suitable to the standard Audio Technica tonearm, since it has a stiff stylus and thus needs heavier tonearms to have a full, deep sound. The Audio Technica and Technics tonearms are more suitable to cartridges like the Denon 160, which have a less stiff stylus, and require lower tracking force and lighter tonearms.

nick52284:
the cambridge sounds good for an entry level solid-state preamp, however; I've listened to my uncles tube pre-amps and they have a sweeter sound, smoother all around, the lows are deeper, the highs are sweeter, and the midrange is usually right where it should be. the Denon 160 is what i have now, if i would try the 103r i can add a weight to the head shell to help with the mass of the arm.

Nick

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